The Blue Caboose

“You got to work a child’s imagination because there’s nothing wrong with a little magic in your life when you can get it.”

Quote & Blog by: Kristi Falamino aka Grammy

I had the honor of watching Matthew this past Monday night because both Laurie and Bob had to work. We had so much fun together! I was excited for this adventure, but a little nervous too. It’s been 26 years since I took care of a 3-year-old!

I decided that it would be nice to go visit my mom after I picked him up from daycare. Now my daughter was a very quiet, studious little girl (and still is) and Bob is the same way. FYI – the apple can fall far from the tree. Matthew is a little chatter-bug that talked non-stop and though it was hard to try and decipher 3-year-old language, we had some very deep conversations (as deep as any 3-year-old can have). I discovered so many new things about my grandson that I didn’t know before.

I was very aware of his fascination of anything made with wheels, but did not realize that he has never ridden in a car with only two doors. I would hear this throughout the night – over and over and over again. I am quite sure he that he liked my car because he asked me what my car’s name was. I told him the name is Cooper. He said it should be Mr. Pooper instead. He laughed and laughed all the way down route 70. I didn’t help any by pretending to get mad every time he said Pooper.

I also found out that his dad did not like his own car and when I asked why, he said that it was because “it eats too much gas”. He told me that his favorite animals are tea-cups. OK, that’s what my ears heard, but what he was really saying was kitty-cats. I am thrilled with this news because I have three kitty-cats at home. He seemed to know all about my girls, right down to the colors of each one.

We visited Mame, my mother, who was tickled pink to see her great-grandson. Matthew was all smiles and laughed with delight when my 15-year-old niece, Laurel, played games with him on the floor. Mame cut him up a hotdog with fruit and Mac & Cheese on the side but he was too excited to eat. She is now telling everyone that she sees, even strangers, that her great-grandson came to visit and just walked in the door beaming with happiness.

The big event of the evening finally came when I loaded him back in to my car and drove him to my house. He wanted to visit the blue caboose that sits across the street from my house, next to the bike trail. I wanted to make his first official visit to my home and the caboose special so I bought him a Thomas train and put it in a bright red gift bag with MATTHEW written in big bold letters across the front. I snuck this onto the caboose so that when we were exploring he would come across it.

Unfortunately, the doors to get inside the caboose were locked. Matt kept looking at me and asking me to unlock the doors. He asked me to get the key for the doors and kept looking at my pockets to give me the hint. Then he put on his little man, the one he uses when he plays with his trains and shouted ALL ABOARD. Such a boy!!!! He was mystified when I found the bright red bag with his name on it and a train inside! I don’t think that his eyes could have gotten any larger.

After the caboose visit Matt of course wanted to play with his new train and asked me if I had batteries. I didn’t have the size needed so we drove to the store to get a package. We settled in and he spied my keys dangling from the ignition and said, “Grammy, there's the key for the caboose!”
When I tried to put the battery in to the train, I ended up unscrewing this and that, and taking the whole toy apart, only to find out that the top just snaps off and you slip the battery inside. My roommate Kevin, Uncle Kev, put it back together. Today we still joke about that.

Matthew met my cats but very briefly as they would run and hide whenever he tried to get close to them. For the rest of the evening, Kevin put on a Sponge Bob video and then played a video game with him on his PS3. It was a perfect ending to a perfect evening together.